Mary Clare Freeman: Italian Sustainable Development Implementation: A Case for Reassessing
the Role of the State?
(Under the direction of Holger Moroff)
Sustainable development has become the major paradigm driving international
environmental policy and initiatives since its introduction by Norwegian Prime Minister
Brundtland in 1987. Despite major progress by the United Nations, the European Union and
multilateral stakeholders throughout the world, success of sustainable development is
fragmented. The gap between developed and developing countries is widening, initiatives are not
meeting aims, and prioritization by actors of sustainable development is uneven. I hypothesize
that fragmentation of sustainable development occurs at the state level, and that more data and
research on the role of the state should be included in sustainable development indicators in
order to improve the execution of related initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to look at the
role of the Italian government at the national and regional levels, in policymaking, providing
infrastructure and resources, and engaging civil society in the efficient implementation of
sustainable development.